Anyone ever back pack out an elk solo ?

[wapitiwhacker]

This should give you a fair idea of boned out meat weight. Don't forget to add on the weight of the rack if it has to come out too (which it will if your regs are similar to B.C.s)

http://www.skinnymoose.com/racktracker/2008/09/04/how-much-meat-will-i-get-from-my-elk/

A nice, but not always practical way to do it is to have two or more packs, fill them and then leap frog your loads 3-500 yds. The walk back to retrieve the last pack gives you a break, and you are never that far from any of your packs. It is never a nice feeling walking back into G bear country to retrieve meat that has been left for any amount of time.

 

[Tikka6xc]

Perfect. Simple smart idea.

 

[saskbooknut]

I used an aluminum frame pack when I was 30 years old and tough, about one mile down a steep mountain side. A nice young bull elk 5 point made 5 packs. Hind Legs were 90 lbs each. Loin about the same. Two trimmed front legs about the same. Last pack was boneless neck meat at about 35 lbs, which by that time, felt as heavy as the first pack. I hurt for two weeks after this adventure. I can remember placing my feet with the greatest of care so that I would not break an ankle while packing alone down the washed out creekbed.
As a senior pensioner I will not be packing any elk out on my back. I would have packed a whole lot less bone if I had been smarter in my youth.
That elk tasted particularly good to our family, and memory is sweeter too.

 

[GunnerySgtJackson]

lol I joined the army 10 years ago and am in the combat trades. Have gone to Nijmegen, done mountain man.. Ect... I can answer that with a good chunk for a fare distance

Hey, stuffing your air mattress inside your ruck and then blowing it up is not the same as sand bags.................
Good on you Tikka! Thank you for your service!

 

[RoscoeT]

It's been said that big game hunting is a lot like masturbation. It's a whole lot of fun 'til you shoot, then you got a big mess to deal with.

Be safe. Don't play it tough'n macho by pushing it too far. The lazy man's load is ok for taking out the trash but if you rip something in the back country you might not make it out.

 

[moose2hunt]

yes up hill 2 miles in the Tumbler Ridge country B.C. took me and my partner 12 hrs from start of gut to hang in cooler ...leave the meat attached to the hide ..bone out as much as you can ....cut shoulder straps in to hide and put it on like a back pack and walk .....fronts, rears, total bone out the ribs and back strap 3 trips each and one more for the antlers

get a look at the trees in the back ground ...thats the country we walked in..
sept 2009

 

[Big Jon]

yes up hill 2 miles in the Tumbler Ridge country B.C. took me and my partner 12 hrs from start of gut to hang in cooler ...leave the meat attached to the hide ..bone out as much as you can ....cut shoulder straps in to hide and put it on like a back pack and walk .....fronts, rears, total bone out the ribs and back strap 3 trips each and one more for the antlers

get a look at the trees in the back ground ...thats the country we walked in..
sept 2009

Dude....

get a pack! I've never had to pack a moose or elk solo, only deer. All the moose and elk I've killed or been a part of have been in cutblock country, or in the mixed agricultural areas of the Peace Country where a pick-up or ATV can get reasonably close.

I shot a nice bull elk that was kind enough to run out into the middle of a pasture and fall over a couple years ago. A quick call to the farmer and I got the green light to drive my truck right up to him! Skin, gut, cut in half and hoist into the back of the truck and I was on my way. It sure beat having him drop in the swampy, willow thicket, or the shallow but steep creek draw.

 

[tracker]

If you do it alone you better have cold weather or you maybe wasting your time by the time you get meat to cooler.

 

[Big Jon]

If you do it alone you better have cold weather or you maybe wasting your time by the time you get meat to cooler.

Cool weather works fine too.

 

[moose2hunt]

111

 

[moose2hunt]

done it with a pack frame before ...its easyer this way...pack in a rifle ,knife and sharpining kit,.para cord ...why carry anything more...done the pack frame on flat land moose ...never again after a buddy showed me this way.....and there was no cut blocks around this one and no farmers ..called him in to under 40 paces

 

[Big Jon]

done it with a pack frame before ...its easyer this way...pack in a rifle ,knife and sharpining kit,.para cord ...why carry anything more...done the pack frame on flat land moose ...never again after a buddy showed me this way.....and there was no cut blocks around this one and no farmers ..called him in to under 40 paces

So pack frames are good or bad? I am not sure what you're saying?

 

[Mighty Peace]

If packing, will will suggest quartering up and then deboning the rib cage section.....strip out the tenderloins, backstraps and rib meat - place into plastic bags. Why haul the rib cage with all the weight when its mostly bone.

I have had to do it but only up a river valley up to my quad....still was alot of work. Next time shoot on top of the valley ridges, not chase below

 

[Charlie38]

4 trips bone in with elk, damn near killed me with a packframe. And it was only a 3km hike. De-bone next time

 

[moose2hunt]

what i am saying ...Is i have used a pack frame before ...and i will never use another after trying this way.......pack frames good or bad ...Bad for me ...i dont need them ....or want one

 

[Tikka6xc]

I see this repeated alot so let me give ya a hint on something boys.

Deer, Elk, moose.... whatever. Debone it. Your out hunting, why rush?

Ive never done Elk and thats why I posted the Q, I have however back packed out deer a few times. Ya know what I do. Gut the animal than take a break and build a camp fire. I pretty much butcher the entire animal where it dies. Takes like 4 hours+. Cook up the tenderloins and enjoy the time.

its much better to enjoy all of your time rather than try to drag an animal. or even worse be stuck hunting near roads.

like i said tho, If your goning to back pack any animal out. debone it.

 

[bearkilr]

I see this repeated alot so let me give ya a hint on something boys.

Deer, Elk, moose.... whatever. Debone it. Your out hunting, why rush?

Ive never done Elk and thats why I posted the Q, I have however back packed out deer a few times. Ya know what I do. Gut the animal than take a break and build a camp fire. I pretty much butcher the entire animal where it dies. Takes like 4 hours+. Cook up the tenderloins and enjoy the time.

its much better to enjoy all of your time rather than try to drag an animal. or even worse be stuck hunting near roads.

like i said tho, If your goning to back pack any animal out. debone it.

Wrong. Meat cools faster with the bone in if you have to hang it back at camp and it's a lot easier to attach a bone-in quarter to a pack frame than a bag of jello-like meat.

Sounds like you got it all figured out though. Keep in mind a large, well boned out bull elk will have about 250-300 lbs of meat, add to that the antlers and cape if you want to get a mount. Good luck.

 

[savagelh]

It makes more sense to me to debone everything. Mind you I've never packed out anything. But if i did i would trim all blood shot meat, fat and bone and only pack out meat and antlers. I don't see how meat could possibly cool faster with the bone in?

 

[bearkilr]

It makes more sense to me to debone everything. Mind you I've never packed out anything. But if i did i would trim all blood shot meat, fat and bone and only pack out meat and antlers. I don't see how meat could possibly cool faster with the bone in?

To properly cool, it should be hanging. That's much easier to do with the bone in. Picture a moose hind quarter. When you cut off the hoof/foot, you're left with a piece of meat about 3 1/2 ft. in length or so. If you were to debone that piece, you now have a package about the size of a medicine ball weighing around 60 lbs. or so of solid, warm meat.
Now how to hang it? Plastic bags are a bad idea for cooling meat, cheesecloth works great, but now you have a large ball of cheesecloth hanging from your meat pole. Basically, the more surface area that's exposed to the air, the faster it will cool.
If you're not hanging it and it's going straight to the freezer, a similar thing applies. It's a bad idea to throw a whole packaged/cut-up moose (100 packages or so) in one freezer in a pile as some packages may take too long to freeze. Spread them out so they freeze faster and prevent spoilage.